Mike Kelly (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

Absolutely. The interest rate cuts have also enabled them to better deal with cost-of-living pressures. We are also seeing the superannuation benefits that are coming from the mineral resource rent tax, 41,500 local workers are going to see their superannuation guarantee increase from nine per cent to 12 per cent, and the benefits for the 18,200 small businesses in my electorate who will be able to take advantage of the loss carry-back program, the $6,500 asset write-off and the $5,000 vehicle write-off. Many of them have already talked to me about how they have utilised those provisions and how they took advantage of the 50 per cent write-off during the GFC. Many businesses have retooled, re-equipped and taken advantage of those provisions in other ways, as they have all around Australia.

Mr Gibbons interjecting—

Now the school kids bonus will help my lower-and middle-income earners deal with the cost of putting their kids through school, not, as the Leader of the Opposition abused them, by wasting that money on poker machines. That was an insult to them of the worst and highest degree. They were certainly not impressed with his attitude to providing them with assistance with the costs of education.

Mr Bruce Scott interjecting—

There are 8,250 families in Eden-Monaro, who are expected to receive a total of $400 a year for each child in primary school and $820 a year for high school kids. For the parents of our 14,500 local kids this will certainly be very welcome.

Honourable members interjecting—

I mentioned that infrastructure is a key issue. We need to unclog the arteries of this country and improve ports, airports and roads. This budget delivers on the $60 million Bega bypass. It is 40 years since this project was first announced and the land corridor provided for this project. Now, finally, it is to be delivered. The main construction phase of the bypass will commence next month. We have also seen $3,822,000 delivered in this budget for the Roads to Recovery program, which is vital for the struggling councils in my region. We have also seen of course $2.5 million going to heavy vehicle safety road stops. It is important for the virtuous circle that we try to create in our country towns to make sure that their local amenities and sports facilities are dealt with too. We have invested heavily in such projects right around the region.

It is also part of the vision that we have for rural and regional Australia that we are delivering on the NBN and the clean energy future package. It is an exciting time for Eden-Monaro, which is seeing over $1 billion of investment in renewable energy projects. We have the Infigen Capital Wind Farm near Bungendore, which has 60 turbines. Infigen is going to add another 40 and is going to build a 50-megawatt solar farm there. We have a $700 million wind farm project being built around Boco Rock, near Nimmitabel. ActewAGL is drilling a geothermal sweet spot near Nimmitabel. We have Carnegie Corporation doing a wave energy project off the port of Eden. Its first test-buoy will go in next year. Of course, we have Snowy Hydro, the grand-daddy of them all. The Frontier Economics study that the New South Wales coalition government commissioned indicated that our region would be one of the top four in the nation to benefit from the clean energy future package and that there would be 2,300 new jobs generated by that package. My region understands that benefit. It understands that the future of the region is being preserved by the investment in a cleaner environment and our securing a clean energy future plan. The NBN also is so critical to rural and regional economies. I have a $200 million timber precinct investment from Dongwa, a Korean company, going into Bombala.

Opposition members interjecting—

Dongwa intends to build a particle-board-manufacturing capacity that is incredibly and totally dependent on the NBN, because of the state-of-the-art equipment it intends to put in. The coalition intends to rip that opportunity out of rural and regional Australia by denying it the NBN. That is a complete betrayal of rural and regional Australia.

Eden-Monaro will not accept having this bright, shining future be ripped from it by a coalition so ready to sacrifice our opportunities and avoid the hard decisions. My community are not that timid, narrow-minded, defeatist, cowardly people the coalition believes them to be. They are ready to reach out and embrace the future with imagination and courage. Eden-Monaro is ready to show leadership. It is a shame that the coalition is only ready to lurk in the shadows, fostering confusion, fear and despair.

Honourable members interjecting—

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